Best Albums of the 1980s

« View best albums of the 1970sView best albums of the 1990s »

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1980s decade summary

Year	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts.	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year)	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart.
1980	2,161	193,877	Remain In Light (28th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,195	120,573	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,156	148,428	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,174	135,388	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,167	170,558	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,184	143,880	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,311	169,365	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,516	162,091	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,597	151,786	Daydream Nation (70th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,638	196,989	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,099	1,592,934

The best artists of the 1980s were The Smiths, Prince, Pixies, The Cure, Talking Heads, U2, Metallica, Kate Bush, R.E.M. and The Stone Roses.

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31.

Power, Corruption & Lies

New Order

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

778 charts

Rank Score:

6,931

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

249

Average Rating:

81 (912 votes)

Comments:

32.

Meat Is Murder

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

815 charts

Rank Score:

6,836

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

253

Average Rating:

82 (1,262 votes)

Comments:

33.

Hatful Of Hollow

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

610 charts

Rank Score:

6,824

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

257

Average Rating:

86 (1,015 votes)

Comments:

34.

The Dreaming

Kate Bush

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

633 charts

Rank Score:

6,614

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

264

Average Rating:

81 (763 votes)

Comments:

35.

The Number Of The Beast

Iron Maiden

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

698 charts

Rank Score:

6,464

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

269

Average Rating:

81 (991 votes)

Comments:

36.

Strangeways, Here We Come

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

730 charts

Rank Score:

6,229

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

280

Average Rating:

81 (1,110 votes)

Comments:

37.

Pornography

The Cure

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

676 charts

Rank Score:

6,036

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

293

Average Rating:

80 (952 votes)

Comments:

38.

Psychocandy

The Jesus And Mary Chain

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

739 charts

Rank Score:

6,016

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

294

Average Rating:

79 (900 votes)

Comments:

39.

Scary Monsters

David Bowie

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

751 charts

Rank Score:

6,002

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

295

Average Rating:

81 (1,085 votes)

Comments:

40.

You're Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr.

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

640 charts

Rank Score:

5,929

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

304

Average Rating:

82 (717 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 4 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	87	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	98	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
The Fall	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	387	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	12	1%

« View best albums of the 1970sView best albums of the 1990s »

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